California Proposing to Tax Text Messages, Retroactive 5 Years.

Under the guise that a new surcharge on text messages would garner revenue, the purpose of which is to enable California’s poor to obtain cellphones, the California Public Utilities Commission is proposing a vote on the state’s latest tax them to death scheme in January 2019.

If passed, the tax , a flat fee supposedly per customer, the amount of which has not yet been announced would become retroactive five years.

The bulk of the money garnered by the tax would go towards programs that help low-income California residents afford phone service, according to a commission report (pdf).

“Parties supporting the collection of surcharges on text messaging revenue argue that it will help preserve and advance universal service by increasing the revenue base upon which Public Purpose Programs rely. We agree,” the commission stated….

“It’s a dumb idea,” Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored advocacy group, told the outlet. “This is how conversations take place in this day and age, and it’s almost like saying there should be a tax on the conversations we have.”

According to business groups, the new charges would total about $44.5 million a year. However, with the retroactive surcharge, the total could reach above $220 million[…]

So how is this tax not going to hurt the poor? When will Californians realize that the greedy elites will always return for more? This is nothing short of government theft. After all, someone has to pay for the illegal alien invaders that California’s Communist bureaucrats are welcoming with open arms. Why not their stupid taxpayers.

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